Flipgrid: Giving All Students a Voice in the Classroom

WHO: Teachers looking for a way to give all students a chance to voice their opinions on topics. Flipgrid allows teachers to post a question/topic and students respond on the computer or on their smartphone. Students record a video discussing the topic or responding to other students.

HOW: Start by creating an account at https://www.flipgrid.com/, start with the Flipgrid One account. This will give the teacher a single grid with unlimited topics. Flipgrid Classroom ($65/year) gives unlimited grids, unlimited topics, the ability to adjust response lengths, and more. Once the teacher is on the Admin page, they can create a topic, adjust a wide variety of settings, record a short clip of themselves explaining the topic, and share via Google Classroom, Facebook, Twitter, or link. Students will then open the app or website, view the topic, then click the button to record a response.

WHEN:Flipgrid is a great option for a new style of exit tickets. Teachers could also utilize it for students that are able to dictate answers but struggle with writing. Other ideas could include verbal book reports, biographies, reflections, debates, or “show me what you learned today”. Flipgrid would also be useful as a formative assessment tool. Teachers could have students discuss topics prior to beginning units then revisit a topic at the end. Students that use Snapchat will feel a similar setup with taking video clips of themselves while learning to use the technology properly.